The Shphelah!

Bell Caves where people in the Hellenistic era mined chalk.

These caves were so awesome because they were  full of light and the acoustics were amazing.  Not to mention they are hundreds of years old.  We were advised to run if we saw anything fall from the ceiling or heard crumbling noises... glad we survived.  Our group sang a few hymns and the sound rang out like we were in a concert hall; that was incredible sounding.  

Pieces of ancient pottery at Beth-Shemesh and Sorek Valley. 

Archeologists took all the important pieces and left these random ones in a big pile.  The ones Anne is pointing at are bits of an old handle.  See it? I think it's cool that there are significant remains just laying in a pile in a big gorgeous field that used to be a fortress.  This site is also where Samson would have torn down the pillars.  This field trip really made me realize how the Holy Land is consumed with history.  It seems that about everywhere you go, you can find traces of historical events.

Azekah and Elah Valley below. 

1 Samuel 17

Here is David (left; his name really is David), and Goliath (right). 

This valley is where the battle between Israel and the Philistines began--where David killed Goliath. 

David knows what he can accomplish with the Lord. He, as a youth, fought the Philistine's mightiest warrior.  Go forward with faith in God and we too can conquer our trials, our Goliath. 

 

Marisha. (Guvrin Valley is above us)

Here, we are in an underground housing community of Marisha. It is crazy to think that people lived underground and even crazier that the remains are still here for us to explore!

 

Lachish

Joshua 10:10-14,31-32;  2 Kings 18:13-16;  19:32-36;  Jeremiah 34:1-7

 Lachish ended up being captured by the Assyrians, even though it is on a steep hill and the Israelites, the Israelites were unprepared.  The sad part about this story is that the Israelites could see the Assyrians coming to attack them from below.  Archeologist gathered information showing them that the Israelites were frantically trying to build the wall up as they saw their enemies coming. We know this because since they gathered mud from the inside of the wall shows they were frantic because they didn't have time to bring supplies in from outside.  Our lesson learned here: be prepared before the day of destruction.  When you are frantically trying to build, it is too late. Follow the prophet and the Lord will always prepare you; no matter how scary it may seem, we just have to trust in Him and we will be alright.